Julian DrewAthletics This week the track and field season stepped up a gear with the arrival of the Engen Grand Prix Series on the local calendar and with it a sudden influx of international talent. After last weekend and what was the best South African championships in recent memory many of our stars are in […]
Mukoni T Ratshitanga The African National Congress Youth League goes to its 20th national conference in Johannesburg next week amid fears that it is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the youth. Central to the criticisms levelled against the league is that it is only vocal on leadership matters within the ANC […]
A small ‘sacred city’ in the Karoo is South Africa’s window on to the universe, writes Ruben Mowskowski One gets to the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) at Sutherland by driving up the N1 from Cape Town until the ground becomes dry and flinty and the bushes sparse and then, after about three hours, you […]
The battle for a free Namibia has been won, but the Herero people still suffer from a defeat at German hands in 1904, writes John Grobler In the small, dusty graveyard of Usakos, Adelheid Tjijorokisa-Ndjavera points to headstones marking the graves of her family. The impressive headstone of Karl-Heinrich Knaeble, born in Oberndorf, Bavaria, and […]
Andy Capostagno: Rugby We’ve had two weeks of the Super 12 now and we’ve learnt a few things. We’ve learnt that the Wellington Hurricanes are the best team in the tournament, and the Western Stormers are about the worst. We’ve learnt that rumours of a resurgence of the game in Australia are unfounded, and that […]
Krisjan Lemmer Great excitement in the Dorsbult Bar when word circulated that the California multi-millionaire, Deepak Chopra, was in town. Deepak, as everyone knows, is guru to California and all its hangers-on, including Hillary Clinton, Michael Jackson, George Harrison, Liz Taylor and Demi Moore – the latter of whom announced, after consulting him, that she […]
Njongonkulu Ndungane: UBUNTU A cardinal value to be cherished by all is the sanctity of life. This entails creating conditions that enable people to enjoy a fully human life. As God’s stewards we are responsible for harnessing the resources of the earth to enhance humanity’s well-being. It is in this light that we must engage […]
Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele: RIGHT TO REPLY Your article, “Whatever happened to the dream of low-cost housing”, February 20 to 26, was sensational and alarmist. My office has been co-operating with the media in making sure that their information needs are met on time. There is nothing sinister about verifying statistics and maintaining their integrity before releasing […]
William Makgoba advocates streamlining government operations by slashing the number of ministries The proposed increase in the executive powers of the presidency, the stripping of two ministries and the assimilation of some functions of 10 other ministries awaiting restructuring (as reported in the Financial Mail, March 6), are welcome small steps in transforming the government […]
Gwen Ansell: CD of the week Reedman and composer Henry Threadgill is a graduate of Chicago’s Association for the Advancement of Creative Music, and his work with the bands Air and Very Very Circus married open arrangements and dense textures in a way which often subverted expectations – all-brass ensembles, no-bass ensembles, Jelly Roll Morton-meets-Ornette […]